Barry-Murphy struggles to process Rochdale’s survival

Posted Sunday, April 28, 2019 by PA

Rochdale manager Brian Barry-Murphy was struggling to deal with the feeling of survival after his side’s 1-0 victory over Southend United meant they confirmed their League One status for another season.

Ian Henderson got the only goal of the game to move Rochdale up to 14th place, and Barry-Murphy was delighted with the achievement.

He said: “Being safe hasn’t sunk in yet. It’s been a whirlwind few weeks and we’ve been building up to this moment.

“I’ve been conscious not to talk to the players about where we have been in the table over the last few weeks, but this is a fitting reward.

“The players deserve credit for putting themselves on the line. There has always been belief in the dressing room but we just needed a couple of wins to get the momentum going.

“It was a grind against Southend and we were aware of the fact that they were coming with a desperation to win, but I was happy with how we looked.

“The games have come rapidly which has helped us, but now next season is going to be a hugely challenging period. It looks like it will be a monster league next season, but we have experienced players that can make us competitive.”

The defeat means Southend have now dropped to 20th, with only goal difference separating them from the relegation zone, and manager Kevin Bond has stressed that they must take advantage of their fate being in their own hands.

“The lads need to go out next week and win. It’s as simple as that. A point may be enough but the plan of attack is to perform and win,” said Bond.

“It was difficult conditions against Rochdale and there weren’t many chances in the whole game. We couldn’t keep a clean sheet, and when you can’t do that then you’ll always find it difficult.

“It was a poor lack of concentration from us by giving away a corner when we didn’t need to, and then they got another which they scored from. It’s really unnecessary in a game where one goal decides it.

“We’ve shown before that it’s difficult when we go behind. We didn’t have enough presence up front and didn’t create as many chances as I’d have liked. It was always going to be a tight match, but these games are decided on fine lines, and the lines haven’t been going for us.”

It was a quiet first half, but Rochdale were quick out of the blocks after the interval and Henderson netted on 53 minutes. Ethan Hamilton’s initial shot was saved, but Henderson was on hand to slot home the rebound from close range to make it 1-0.

Southend thought they equalised late on when Stephen McLaughlin had the ball in the net, but his effort was ruled out for offside and Rochdale held on to earn a well-deserved victory.